BAJAUR: Residents of Letaai, a remote area in Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur tribal district, have complained about absence of basic facilities like a school, a health centre and a carpeted road.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday, they said the scenic area surrounded by mountains was located near the Pak-Afghan border comprising over 30,000 people, but was kept deprived of development.

Gohar Rahman, a social activist, said the area did not have a water supply scheme either. He said parents wanted their children to be well-educated, but absence of a school put them off as a government primary school was located about eight kilometres from the locality.

The other residents said they had recently launched work on pavement of a dirt road on self-help basis, after PTI lawmakers – MNA Gul Zafar Khan and MPA Anwarzeb Khan – failed to meet their election promise of bringing development to the area. They deplored that the lawmakers had promised addressing the local issues during the election campaign, but they did not even visit the area after elections.

The residents demanded that the provincial government ensure provision of facilities to them without delay.

PTI ACTIVISTS HOLD RALLIES: Hundreds of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers took out rallies on Saturday night on the call of party chairman and ousted prime minister Imran Khan to demand holding of general elections in the country without delay. A demonstration was held in Raghagan Bazaar, the native town of provincial minister for social welfare Anwarzeb Khan.

The protesters chanted slogans against what they said imported government. They condemned the alleged foreign conspiracy to remove the PTI government at the centre.

The PTI activists vowed to stand by Imran Khan till their last breath.

PTI workers also held a demonstration in Inayat Kallay Bazaar led by former MNA Gul Zafar Khan. The protesters said holding early election was the only solution to the country’s political and financial crises. Similarly, a rally was held in the Laghari Bazaar of Mamond tehsil.

POLICEMAN DIES: A policeman, who was injured in a firing incident in Khar town on Friday evening, succumbed to injuries at a Peshawar hospital on Sunday, family and police confirmed. They said 52-year-old Nazeer Khan had received multiple wounds in his head and upper parts of the body.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2022